Controlling the volatility of the written optical state in electrochromic DNA liquid crystals

Kai Liu, Justin Varghese, Jennifer Y. Gerasimov, Alexey O. Polyakov, Min Shuai, Juanjuan Su, Dong Chen, Wojciech Zajaczkowski, Alessio Marcozzi, Wojciech Pisula, Beatriz Noheda, Thomas T. M. Palstra, Noel A. Clark () and Andreas Herrmann ()
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Kai Liu: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen
Justin Varghese: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen
Jennifer Y. Gerasimov: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen
Alexey O. Polyakov: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen
Min Shuai: University of Colorado
Juanjuan Su: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen
Dong Chen: University of Colorado
Wojciech Zajaczkowski: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Alessio Marcozzi: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen
Wojciech Pisula: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Beatriz Noheda: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen
Thomas T. M. Palstra: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen
Noel A. Clark: University of Colorado
Andreas Herrmann: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Liquid crystals are widely used in displays for portable electronic information display. To broaden their scope for other applications like smart windows and tags, new material properties such as polarizer-free operation and tunable memory of a written state become important. Here, we describe an anhydrous nanoDNA–surfactant thermotropic liquid crystal system, which exhibits distinctive electrically controlled optical absorption, and temperature-dependent memory. In the liquid crystal isotropic phase, electric field-induced colouration and bleaching have a switching time of seconds. Upon transition to the smectic liquid crystal phase, optical memory of the written state is observed for many hours without applied voltage. The reorientation of the DNA–surfactant lamellar layers plays an important role in preventing colour decay. Thereby, the volatility of optoelectronic state can be controlled simply by changing the phase of the material. This research may pave the way for developing a new generation of DNA-based, phase-modulated, photoelectronic devices.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11476

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